News & Blog
Welcome to the JBK Blog & News page where we discuss the latest news and trends in information technology,
our construction, insurance, and risk management IT services, and our products, SmartBidNet and SmartCompliance.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 10:32AM The MIT Media Lab has done it again. This time demonstrating how objects can be embedded with a processor and wifi connection making it possible to manipulate a tangible interface via a graphical user interface on a device. Check out the video below or click here to learn more about this incredible technology.
Monday, May 20, 2013 at 11:55AM Ever sent a text message only to get a quick rejection to the tune of "This is a landline, better luck next time"? HeyWire, already "boasting 3 million monthly users" is hoping to change that not only for personal mobile users but for businesses.
The service allows landline numbers to text internally and send and receive messages to any mobile numbers. Users don't even have to be at the physical location of the landline for it to work; instead they can login on their mobile or web browser. This means that this tool has the potential to be a very powerful innovation for telecommuters and remote workers.
The service essentially works like Google Voice or Skype, the main difference being it will incorporate the office landline as well. The idea is to allow more separation between personal and business communication by adding the processes individuals prefer, like texting, to their business communication toolbox. It will be interesting to see how services like Skype and Google Voice respond, and especially how professionals respond. Is opening ourselves up to more text communication going to make the work day more efficient, or just more tedious?
Click here to learn more about this landline SMS and texting technology
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 11:45AM Published May 17, 2013
AGC TechBrief
The Construction Open Software Alliance (COSA) is collaborating on the promotion of standards data exchange within the construction industry. COSA (constructionosa.org)supports the agcXML initiative and will submit schemas that it develops for review and ratification by AGC. In addition it will provide a platform among its members for testing and promoting the use of agcXML schemas in real-life production environments.
AGC appreciates the vision of COSA and its members and expresses...
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 11:43AM "I developed a new supercapacitor, which is basically an energy storage device which can hold a lot of energy in a small amount of volume," she told KPIX 5. The technology may also be able to speed up charging of automobile batteries, she said.
The 18 year old winner of the Young Scientist Award at Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair demonstrated how an inch-long device can fully charge a cell phone in under 30 seconds. Righly so, inventor Eesha Khare won $50,000 she plans to put towards a Harvard education in the fall. She hopes the technology can be applied to automobile and other larger batteries in the future.
Where can we buy one?!
Click here to learn about this incredible charging technology developed by an 18 year old
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 11:46AM Published in Constructech Magazine
May/June 2013 Issue
By Mike Carrozzo
Although you'll never him to admit as much, James Benham stirred the pot in construction. When the founder and president of JB Knowledge, www.jbknowledge.com, Bryan, Texas took the stage at the AGC IT Conference last fall, his announcement to the construction industry was direct: The formation of COSA (Construction Open Software Alliance). His message to the construction industry, however, was a bit more indirect: "Let's get moving here."
The concept he is pushing is "get moving" for open standards, which is where COSA comes in. Made up of cloud and desktop-based technology offerings, such as...
Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 9:20AM May 8, 2013
Houston Chronicle
Premier IT solutions provider, JB Knowledge Technologies, Inc. becomes one of only two companies named to both LSU 100 and Texas A&M University’s Aggie 100 for exceptional company growth.
JB Knowledge Technologies, Inc., maker of SmartBidNet and SmartCompliance business solutions, has been honored as one of the 2013 LSU 100: Fastest Growing Tiger Businesses. JBKnowledge is only the second company to be named to both the LSU 100 and Texas A&M University’s Aggie 100. Father and son duo, Jim andJames Benham, started the company in 2001 and have been recognized by their respective universities over the past several years.
LSU alum, Jim Benham successfully pioneered four companies before starting JBKnowledge with son, James, a graduate of Texas A&M University. Based upon its compounded annual growth rate from 2009-2011, JBKnowledge ranked 24th among the 2013 LSU 100 honorees.
"Since receiving my degree at LSU, I've had the pleasure of leading several successful companies and leading one with my son has been the icing on the cake. I'm proud of this great university and the values it instilled in me, and even prouder...
Click here to continue reading
Monday, April 29, 2013 at 1:28PM While we must agree "there’s something resolutely small beer about a weather app," Yahoo's latest mobile application does show some initiative from the company that hasn't been discussed for more than its HR policies lately. They may be onto something in competing with the big guns by redesigning the wheel instead of reinventing it. They've acquired many good snippets of the tech world over the years which could be integrated in new ways, like they've done with data from Yahoo! search, weather and Flickr in this new app. It may be small beer, but many breweries have tried to sell weather apps over the years, and this one wins the taste test.
Click here to learn more about Yahoo!'s latest weather app
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at 1:59PM Is Autcorrect ready to handle input from the back of your phone and four additional fingers? Google has recently applied for a patent to add touch screen capabilities to the back of Android devices. Luckily, the touch capabilities are likely to be limited to window/screen control functionalities like scrolling and clicking rather than composing messages. How will the technology differentiate between your shoulder holding your phone to your ear and intentional directions from your other fingers? I guess we'll find out.
Click here to learn more about touch controls on the back of your future Android devices
Friday, March 29, 2013 at 8:31AM A new mobile payment system developed by Swedish company Seamless cuts out the transaction costs associated with paying through Mastercard and Visa, and ultimately lowers the investment for merchants. Retailers "beam" the purchase total into the cloud where the buyer "beams" its payment information by scanning a QR code on the register. The cloud matches the retailer to the buyer and asks for a pin confirmation from the buyer. Payment information is exchanged "in the cloud" as opposed to "in the store." And by connecting retailers directly to the payment source, all parties avoid the higher cost of middlemen like Visa and Mastercard.
“People have been so focused on the exchange of info happening at the store,” Fredell said. “We took it the other way, running the transaction backwards.”
Click here to learn more about this innovative mobile payment technology
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 9:33PM Published in Constructech Magazine
March 12, 2013
As the construction industry evolves so too does the use of construction technology on projects and in companies. One area that continues to progress is online bidding and subcontractor prequalification. Managing all this can be challenging, but construction companies are finding technology can ease processes.
Such is the case with the Swinerton Family of Companies, www.swinerton.com, San Francisco, Calif. Part of the company’s strategy is to prioritize investment in construction technology. The company has adopted technology for years, but systems and processes within the company have evolved as the industry progressed.
Looking back 15 years ago, the company was using home-grown construction management and accounting software, along with scheduling software and customized spreadsheets for estimating to access data in the field and manage business processes.
Monday, March 4, 2013 at 9:25PM Published in the Houston Chronicle
March 4, 2013
Headquartered in San Francisco, the Swinerton Family of Companies is one of the oldest commercial contractors in California, holding state license No. 92. Celebrating 125 years in operation this year, the company has additional offices in Colorado, Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Swinerton is at the forefront of sustainable design, with a third of the staff holding LEED AP certification. Part of the company’s strategy to effectively maintain their industry-leading position is to prioritize investment in construction technology.
“Swinerton has always been ahead of the curve on adoption of technology. When I first started with Swinerton 16 years ago, we were using a Swinerton-developed construction management and accounting software that was accessible to the field via modem, P3 scheduling software and Lotus 123 customized spreadsheet solutions for estimating. This evolution has continued with early adoption of web-based invitation to bid systems and web-based document distribution,” stated David Green, Vice President and Regional Estimating Manager at Swinerton, in a recent case study detailing the firm’s use of technology in preconstruction.
Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 9:23PM Published in Texas CEO Magazine
Written by James Benham, President of JBKnowledge, Makers of SmartBidNet
March 2, 2013
Today, the information technology (IT) decisions presented to CEOs are less about which technologies should be employed and more about which technologies should not. The consumerization of IT means as more employees become savvy in technology needs, requests once limited to the IT department are pouring in from all ends of the company. Team members expect their business technology to be as user friendly as their personal technology.
The past ten years have been about allocating the right corporate technologies to cut operating costs from tight budgets without complicating processes. The next ten years will be about making sure those technologies fit together to achieve corporate objectives. As an executive, there is an obligation to shape the corporate IT strategy and choose the right solutions, but technology providers also have an obligation to provide flexible solutions that accommodate the strategy – building a bridge that drives greater efficiency.
Click here to continue reading
Friday, March 1, 2013 at 8:16PM Published in Construction Business Owner Magazine
Written by James Benham, President of JBKnowledge, Makers of SmartBidNet
March 1, 2013
Imagine your project managers in their offices with a real-time dashboard of all jobsite progress and a 3-D graphic that updates every five minutes, rendering your structure as it advances floor by floor. They can click to see a live video feed through the eyes of an HVAC subcontractor with augmented reality safety goggles that have overlaid, before their eyes, the rendering of the 3-D model in their section of the jobsite. You can even send a link to your project owners with a note to “check out the view from your soon-to-be 22nd floor office, and meet the guys working on it right now” and the option for everyone to jump on a video conference call.
The capabilities of technology, once merely imaginative concepts in science fiction movies, are quickly developing for daily use in commercial and residential building. Advancements in cloud computing are redefining expectations in building information modeling (BIM) as well as data availability and mobility. The evolution of imaging and file sharing is redefining project collaboration, and advancements in integration are redefining how your processes and departments share project data.
BIM
Our company recently performed a survey about commercial construction technology solutions and found a pleasantly surprising statistic...
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 5:01PM Published in US Building Digest
On February 22, 2013
What kind of technology are you using for construction business?
An article in this month’s Constructech Magazine features different software that is available to business owners that can help them standardize things across the office.
This week, Viewpoint Construction Software, Portland, Ore, and JB Knowledge Technologies, Bryan, Texas, which provides the SmartBidNet platform, have announced a new partnership.
SmartBidNet, which offers subcontractor management, project document distribution and collaboration, subcontractor prequalification, and bid invitation and management, is now part of the...
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 9:59AM Forget touch screen, how about a screen you manipulate with a wave of your hand? The video below shows the many applications in which touchless interfaces and gesture control could prove incredibly useful and just plain fun. And "Unleash your inner jedi" may be the best tagline we've heard in years.
Learn more about this handsfree technology here
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